Mar 28, 2011

Third Time's The Charm!

I had such high hopes when I signed up for the Reindeer Ornament Exchange on the HOE blog. Boy, do I have a saga to share... Innocently enough, I signed up for the exchange in December B.S. (Before School). I said to myself, "Self, this is great. I can get a jump start on it!" Happily, I pulled out some fabric and threads. Before I knew it, I had my entire reindeer stitched.

All I needed, was to finish it... and recipient's name. I was one happy girl! The day I was waiting for arrived: I received an email from the coordinator with the recipient's name and the exchange rules. My happy face dropped :( Not really... just sounded dramatic, lol. No aida. Guess what I stitched my reindeer on? Yep, you guessed it. Aida. It was SO cute, too!

What's a girl to do? Stitch another one, of course! I pulled out a nice shade of green linen. Once again, I happily stitched another one. I still had weeks before I needed to send it out. I was ahead of schedule, despite school starting. Woo Hoo!

Fast forward to the weekend before the mailing date. I sat myself down to make the ornament. Mistake #1 - I cut the fabric too small. Mistake #2 - I cut the dimensions of the cardboard inaccurately. I don't know why my measuring skills went out the window, but they did that day. My confident self said: "Self, you can do this. You can fudge it. Go for it!" So, I tried. Really, I did. By the time I got done with that ornament, I was so disgusted with myself. :( No dramatic statement this time... I really was disgusted.

As much as I didn't want to, I contacted the coordinator of the exchange and explained my story. For the first time ever, I asked for an extension. My logic is this: I wouldn't have wanted to receive an ornament that looked like that, so I did not want to send one out looking like it. Luckily, I was granted the extension. And no, I didn't take a pic of the pathetic ornament. I chucked it in the trash and immediately started stitching a third ornament. Yes, three of the same design for one exchange, lol.

I ended up only being a week late on mailing from beginning stitching to the finished product-an ornament I can be proud to have my name associated with! To add to the drama, it was over a month before the ornament arrived. Without further adieu....

Mistletoe Reindeer
Designer: Daffycat
Fabric: 32ct Hand-Dyed Brown/Tan (manufacturer unknown)
Fibers: Unknown Cotton
Embellishment: Runched Ribbon
Mailed to: Aubree in Canada

P.S. This is my third finished-finish of 2011. Yay :) Of course, I couldn't let the aida ornament go to waste. I made it into a cute ornament also! I count this one as my second finish.

36 comments:

Kay said...

That does sound like a bit of a pickle about the ornament, glad you stuck with it and finished it though. Both ornaments looks great!

Shari said...

yup, third time is a charm! It looks great, as does the aida one....
congrats on staying persistant & getting them finished!!!!!

Nima said...

Lovely finishing. I love the detailing on the edge. how do you do that...gorgeous.

Unknown said...

The reindeer is very cute, well done on getting it complete with so many hiccups.

Julie M said...

Boy you did have a time with that exchange! Cute ornament though and you ended up with one for yourself! Really like the ruched trim on them. Hope school is going well for you.

Sunshine said...

Well Done on finishing 2...Sorry you had so much trouble. I tried to click your link for Daffy, but got nothing. Is this a free chart?

Anonymous said...

Wow Meari! I'm glad the 3rd time was the charm. It is really cute! Enjoyed looking at your blog!

hugs,
Teresa

CJ said...

I love the scrunched ribbion. That is one cute ornament. Sorry you had to stitch it three times, but the final outcome is super!!

CJ

Unknown said...

That is just soadorable! And if it was me I would hav gotten so frustraed I would have quit and removedmy name from thelist lol sometimes my patience runs thin when it comes to projects. Awesom finish :-)

Emily in NC said...

Wow, what an ordeal for an exchange. Glad it got there safely and that you don't have to stitch it a 4th time.

too_busy_to_stitch said...

Love the finishing! Both ornaments look lovely.

Berly said...

Its adorable, Meari! I'm so sorry about the problems you had, but you ended up wth an ornament for either yourself or a gift!

Rita E in AZ said...

At least the reindeer is so cute that it wasn't a chore to stitch 3 times :).
I just came from another blog selling stash and saw some Geisha charts for sale here: http://stashingaway.blogspot.com/
I don't remember if you have already stitched these and I don't even know if you are interested but I thought it couldn't hurt to pass the link along to you.

Donna said...

Lovely, lovely (twice lovely). But I understand. I had an ornament that I had the same type problems as you. I was ready to throw my hands in the air and give up.
Great job twice over!

Anonymous said...

Meari,

I love both of them! Great finish!

Linda in VA

Kristin said...

Well, I think they are both lovely. And, seriously, I have real trouble imagining anything of yours being trash worthy.

Akila said...

What a debacle that was!! But then, they both of them look lovely and you have an ornament too :) Congrats

Anonymous said...

Hahah very dramatic! You should know that pattern by heart!

I love how it turned out and you finished them both beautifully!

Christine

Anonymous said...

Oh, Meari that sounds like something that would happen to me. I think the minute you finished the first ornament ahead of schedule & you were happy you got such an early start was the beginning of the end for this saga. I know that is how it works with me. I am just glad that you were able to get it done & that it turned out sooooo cute. I am sure the person who received it loves it.

Betty in AZ

valerie said...

Wow, that's a lot of drama surrounding one little ornament but it sure turned out cute! I'm sure Aubree loves it!

Deborah said...

I am afraid I would not have been so nice, at least in words I had to say!!
Very nice finishes however!!
You need a nice Sunday drive to rest right to my door!! You can then see real drama with my "Stitching Sanctuary" having avalanched again upon movers taking my lift chair out of it!!
Would love to see you again!!

Love and Hugs!!
Deborah

Katrien said...

cute finishes.

Faith... said...

Both of them turned out very cute Meari!

Anonymous said...

What a drama Meari but I'm so glad it turned out OK in the end and the final ornament looks great!!

Hugs,
Lynette

Kathy A. said...

Sometimes, it just doesn't work the way you want it too. But you ended up with two beautiful ornaments - one for the lucky recipient and one for yourself. I love the ruched ribbon.

Pam in IL said...

The reindeer ornaments are really cute. I'm discovering that sending anything to Canada is taking at least a month. I love your fireplace with the roaring fire too!

Ranae said...

Cute ornies!
I love that ribbon

Daffycat said...

Oh, lovely finish! The ruched ribbon edging looks fantastic. Do you feel you've memorized my pattern yet, lol? Thanks for stitching my design, Meari!

htimcj said...

Well, the third time is beautiful! I would have been so frustrated!
Heidi-ILCS

Anonymous said...

Sorry for all the frustration you had to go through, Meari, but in the end, it turned out lovely. And you have a nice ornament for yourself. Love the ribbon edging you did.
Barb in TX

Sue said...

Job well done! Aren't you glad you stuck with it? lol

chrisstitches said...

Cute reindeer.

Nancy M said...

Bet you could just about stitch that one in your sleep now...or would that be nightmare?? LOL Sorry about the mishap, but it's a lesson learned. Never do anything early! Ha I like it on the "non-aida" better.

Jennifer said...

Well, at least you got an ornament to keep out of the whole mess! Both of them are VERY cute!! Love the ribbon trim

The Teacup Cottage said...

OMG! This is so cute! Now I want to do some CHristmas stuff!

Shelley said...

You've definitely got a ton more patience than me...They all look great :)